Westcoast Energy, Cascade Natural Gas Corp. and Puget SoundEnergy (PSE) announced last week that they have teamed together toexplore the feasibility of building a new pipeline to serveconsumers in northwestern Washington. Westcoast is leading theproject evaluation and development for the three companies andwould be the lead developer as the project moves forward.

The pipeline, called the Orca Natural Gas Pipeline (ONGP), isstill in the preliminary design stages and will be developed inbroad consultation with local communities and government officials,Westcoast said. It is currently targeted to be in service by late2004. The pipeline is anticipated to be 140 miles long, includingpotential laterals to Whidbey Island, and the Olympic, Quimper andKitsap Peninsulas, areas not currently served by natural gas. Thecapacity of the new line will be determined by projected marketdemand for natural gas in the region.

Lizette Parsons, a Westcoast spokeswoman, said that it is eventoo early for capacity estimates. “We’ve announced the project insuch a preliminary stage where we honestly don’t know how much gaswill flow through it. We made the announcement now to create aforum of open consultation, which we welcome.”

Westcoast said the new project is in response to the growingdemand for gas in Northwest WA, where the population has grown 7.5%in the past five years. The proposed ONGP would transport naturalgas from Sumas, WA, at the Canada-U.S. border, to new and existingmarkets in Northwest Washington. It would also add a new link tothe North American interconnected natural gas pipeline grid.

“The development of the this project is consistent withWestcoast’s objective of increasing our activities in the PacificNorthwest, where we already have a significant market and assetpresence,” said Michael Phelps, CEO of Westcoast.

“The Orca Natural Gas Pipeline project can add versatility anddiversity to PSE’s natural gas supply portfolio, while reducingcosts to our customers. It can also allow PSE to better serve itselectric customers by delivering fuel to natural gas-firedgeneration projects more cost-effectively,” said Bill Gaines, vicepresident, energy supply of Puget Sound Energy.

The companies plan to evaluate two general corridors for thenatural gas pipeline. One alignment would roughly follow theInterstate 5 corridor south to Everett and include an extensionacross Puget Sound to Port Townsend. The other would be a mostlyoffshore underwater route south from Whatcom County to PortTownsend. Both scenarios could also provide service to WhidbeyIsland.

The three companies currently operate a combined 51,000 miles ofpipelines. Westcoast operates a 51-mile offshore pipeline crossingthe Georgia Strait from just north of Vancouver, BC to VancouverIsland, and another in the Gulf of Mexico.

Westcoast has been very active in terms of participating inpipeline projects. Besides this new Orca project, theVacouver-based company also has a substantial stake in the proposedVector and Alliance pipelines.

John Norris

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